Last week I saw an advertisement in the Disney Hollywood Studios times guide for some limited time lunch offerings at The Hollywood Brown Derby, so I decided to invite my friends Mark and Kendra along to a brunch this past Sunday. I tried going the week before, but the waiter informed me the chef refused […]

Last week I saw an advertisement in the Disney Hollywood Studios times guide for some limited time lunch offerings at The Hollywood Brown Derby, so I decided to invite my friends Mark and Kendra along to a brunch this past Sunday. I tried going the week before, but the waiter informed me the chef refused to serve me off the lunch menu because it was 5 o’clock (lunch hours are 11:30 to 3:00) and he had already packed up the prep work for lunch. Okay, whatever. More on that later.

The Signature Lunch Specialties menu, according to the times guide, included old favorites such as the noodle bowl and famous Cobb salad and three new items: A tuna Niçoise salad, a waygu beef burger with house-made fries, and an open-faced crab sandwich. You could also order off of the regular full Brown Derby menu.

Hollywood Brown Derby Test Lunch Menu

Kendra and Mark decided to take the less adventurous route and ordered the burger. I felt it wouldn’t be much of a review if we all ordered the same thing, so I reluctantly but excitedly picked the crab sandwich. I don’t eat a lot of seafood outside of shrimp, but I wasn’t mad because I’ve loved the Brown Derby’s track record of crab dishes. They used to offer this delicious crab cakes appetizer that I would always order an entree portion of on my birthday because it was my favorite. Then they changed it on the menu to be crab spring rolls, and while it was different and a smaller portion of food, it was still the same ingredients, flavors, and sauces I knew and loved. So I was interested to try this new meal.

My companions ordered Cobb salads for appetizers, Kendra asking for mozzarella cheese instead of bleu, and I ordered my entree as-is but with an additional side of the fries. I figured if the Brown Derby is making homemade fries, they’ve got to be good, right? The waiter (different person than my previous encounter) nervously said he’d have to ask the chef if those requests were okay.

Alright, the self-proclaimed chef inside me has to vent for a moment. I GET IT, when I show up two hours late and want to order off the special menu and you don’t have the ingredients prepped. Personally, I would think you would have a little bit left over to make just one single burger, and really- it’s just grilled ground beef with a slice of cheese on a bun. But I GET IT. But Disney is known for going out of its way to meet dietary needs and preferences. But your staff is afraid you won’t replace a simple cheese with another you already have in your kitchen, let alone let me pay you for more food??

Luckily, the cook granted our requests. The Cobb salads came, and they were delicious, as always. I’m not really a salad eater – if I ever am forced to get a salad with my meal it will be Ceasar with extra croutons. But for some reason the Cobb is an exception to my aversion! The bacon certainly helps, but I like how it’s all chopped together and you get a little bit of everything in each bite. (My grandmother had it once and said it looked like they put the salad through a blender.)

Then we waited, and waited, and waited for our entrees until finally they showed up 45 minutes later. Again, I’m no professional chef, but if you’ve already prepped, all you’re doing is grilling a hamburger and throwing some things in the fryer- it’s not that time consuming. To my surprise when my plate was set down, there were three crabs each about the size of my hand staring back at me. Now, I would consider myself a semi-adventurous eater, but like many others I have a problem with eating foods that look like the animal they came from. I still bucked up and tried it, though. The breading overpowered the rest of crustacean, and the salad was dry. Overall, I ate about half the dish before pushing my plate away.

Kendra offered me some of her burger, and within the first bite I knew I had made the wrong choice in my meal. The burger was juicy and perfectly cooked. The toppings were a bit much, but, hey, it’s a gourmet burger. They’re supposed to be out there. The Cognac added an interesting flavor but was not to my liking. I don’t drink, but I don’t think that was the problem. Usually you would add something like garlic or lemon to enhance the flavor of the aioli, but the taste of the alcohol was so strong it cleared my sinuses! The burger as a whole, though, was still good. The fries were nothing special, however. There was no seasoning, and I think they were fried twice to give them that crispy crunch, but it sucked out all the flavor and made the potatoes taste old.

Open-face crab sandwich

Overall, I like the concept of a new Brown Derby lunch menu. If I were to come back, I’d definitely order the burger again with some alterations. My issue is the price. I know the Brown Derby is high end, but for lunch $22 (the burger) and $28 (the crab “sandwich”) is a bit much. A comparable gourmet burger anywhere else on property would cost $13-$17 at most. And as Kendra later pointed out, while the meat and bun are higher quality, you can build the same meal at Art of Animation’s Landscape of Flavors for half the price. Also, if you’re on the Dining Plan, I don’t think this is worth a whopping two whole table service credits.

I have an idea why they priced these specialty lunch entrees so high. They’re offering the lunch menu ($15-$28) at the same time as the all day full menu ($29-$42). It’s already priced lower than the regular menu, and if they gave these sandwiches and salads the price they deserve, nobody would order off the full menu. It’d be a joke.

Like I said before, I think a separate lunch menu is a great idea, but it needs to be just that: SEPARATE. Have only the full menu for dinner and only some lighter fare for lunch. The lighter fare isn’t half bad, either! But maybe offer more of a variety of sandwiches and brunch items that are accessible to the less adventurous eaters.

Brown Derby continues to test the Signature Lunch menu by switching out the dishes. This week, the Niçoise salad is now fettuccine Alfredo with prosciutto brittle, and the open-face crab sandwich is now an open faced chicken breast sandwich crusted in andouille sausage. Both are $17.

What do you think? Is $20+ too much for a lunch entree? Does any of this sound appetizing to you? What lunch item would you like to see the Brown Derby’s take on? Let us know in the comments below!

Disney cast members are currently busy in preparation to put on Encore’s 11th annual concert, this year entitled “The Art of the Possible”, premiering in two weeks. The concert will feature the music of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote such hits as Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Evita. Encore! Cast Performing Arts is […]

Disney cast members are currently busy in preparation to put on Encore’s 11th annual concert, this year entitled “The Art of the Possible”, premiering in two weeks. The concert will feature the music of composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote such hits as Cats, Phantom of the Opera, and Evita.

Encore! Cast Performing Arts is a completely volunteer-based entertainment powerhouse that incorporates choir, orchestra, acting, dancing and color guard into an evening of magic that is sure to move you. The group was founded in 2002 by only a handful of cast members but has since expanded to more than 500 members, earning collectively over $175,000 to date for charity. All the proceeds of each concert goes to benefits a cause chosen by its members, and this year’s charity is A Gift for Music. This program offers exposure to stringed instrument instruction to underprivileged elementary students.

A Gift for Music Director Eric Smith speaking at a rehearsal

Encore’s “The Art of the Possible” premieres July 19 at Premier Theater in Disney’s Hollywood Studios and runs on the weekends through July 28. Tickets range from $15 to $35. If you enjoy Disney’s Candlelight Processional each year, this a certainly a production not to be missed. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.EncoreCentral.org.

Earlier this year, Universal Orlando Resort launched a new mobile app entitled “Universal ScreenPlay”. Unlike most of the theme park apps out there on the market (including the wonderful one our website offers), this app is not designed to help and assist your vacation planning but to enhance your vacation itself. The app’s three many […]

Earlier this year, Universal Orlando Resort launched a new mobile app entitled “Universal ScreenPlay”. Unlike most of the theme park apps out there on the market (including the wonderful one our website offers), this app is not designed to help and assist your vacation planning but to enhance your vacation itself.

The app’s three many features rely heavily on augmented reality. For those of you not-so techno-savvy readers, Merriam-Webster defines ‘augmented reality’ as:

“an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (as a smartphone camera)”

Let me break it down for you in Disney terms. Have you ever been inside the LEGO Store in Downtown Disney? If you stand in front of video kiosks there and display any LEGO box, it will magically bring to life an actual-size animated version of that set on the screen, and when you turn the box, the set moves in tandem.

Augmented Reality at the LEGO Store

That’s augmented reality!

The first half of the app implements this technology in the “Scan” mode. At the time of this blog posting, it can only be used on the long construction wall adjacent to the Harry Potter Diagon Alley expansion in the Studios park. This may cause future confusion, because while other construction sites in the park have identical walls with movie posters, they do not contain the Universal ScreenPlay icon and thus are not enabled for the game.

Here’s how it works: Hold up your phone to any of the posters. The app will scan it and ask you a trivia question or poll related to the film. If you answer correctly, it will show you a clip from that specific movie and earn you points that will unlock additional clip art and borders for the “Virtual Postcard” mode.

This is fun and educational at times (Who knew Walter Matthau’s real last name was Matuschanskayasky?) but my favorite part is the larger billboards. Hold your phone up to one of the posters of attractions from Universal’s past and present, and the app will open up a virtual window into that attraction’s world, displaying a quick 3D scene that pops off the wall. Words cannot describe the awesomeness of this feature. With the ability to walk around the 3D display, it can create some fun and creative photo ops. Plus you’ll be laughing at yourself the first time you jump because Jaws tried to smash through your phone and bite your head off.

Finally, as mentioned, before the other half of the app is creating “Virtual Postcards”. This allows you to insert Universal characters and themed borders immediately in the moment as you take photos throughout the day- sorta like instant Photopass on the go!

Here are some of my masterpieces from my day in the park earlier this week:

My Verdict: I really like this app and think it has the potential to be great. The problem is they need to work out the bugs first and make it more user friendly. As you can see from my pictures I took through the app, something is wrong with the colorization not lining up with the actual photo, and this is even more highlighted in contrast against the high def (dare I say “picture perfect”) icons of the characters or scenes popping out of the wall. Also I would like a little more freedom in creating my postcards; like the ability to JUST use a border or some clip art and not both, or being able to insert a character into a picture I’ve previously taken and stored on my phone.

Additionally, I went from one end of the construction wall to the other, scanning each poster, and it took me about forty minutes. I don’t see the average family taking the time out of their vacation to spend an hour in the sun looking at their phone on a barren walkway. I see this more as a hidden gem type of thing, like Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Hide a bunch of posters and photo ops around the park, integrating them with the surrounding attractions and atmosphere, and people will be running around looking for that ScreenPlay icon, wondering what’s in store!

All that being said, this is a fantastic use for what otherwise would be a plain, boring construction wall. I mean, what if Disney got its hands on this technology? Instead of the New Fantasyland peep hole into the Mine Train construction…

…what if you could unlock a virtual window and see the Seven Dwarfs building the ride themselves? Or I can TOTALLY see this being the next mini game in the vein of Sorcerers, Pirates Adventure or Agent P, but instead of picking up a device in the park you just download an app to YOUR phone via the park’s Wi-Fi!

In my opinion, this FREE app is worth the download for the animated billboards alone, so head on over to the iTunes App Store or Google Play and check it out on your next visit!

On April 6, 2013, Disney’s Hollywood Studios ended its two Hollywood Boulevard parades, Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! and Disney Channel Rocks!, after almost two years. Both shows were met with contention since their debuts – the first very short and not meeting guest expectations in comparison to its predecessor, Block Party Bash, and the […]

On April 6, 2013, Disney’s Hollywood Studios ended its two Hollywood Boulevard parades, Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun! and Disney Channel Rocks!, after almost two years. Both shows were met with contention since their debuts – the first very short and not meeting guest expectations in comparison to its predecessor, Block Party Bash, and the second not very popular with Disney fanboys and guests above the age of Disney Channel’s tweenage audience.

All that being said, I really enjoyed Disney Channel Rocks. Not because of the content, but because of the energy these performers bring to the show. In the 4 years I’ve lived in Florida, to quote Henry Higgins, I’ve grown accustomed to their smiling faces, whether it was in one of the main parades or these pep rally block parties the Studios throws in front of the Hat, and I will miss not seeing them anymore in my visits. And as you can see from these videos and photos, many others showed up to show their appreciation on the final day, even managers and coworkers from around the Studios.

At this time, nothing has been announced to replace these two parades in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Rumor has it that Disney is clearing off Hollywood Boulevard to make way for construction of a new project, perhaps Disney California Adventure’s Red Car Trolleys or even removing the other infamous Studios eyesore – the big blue Sorcerer’s Hat. What do you think? What would you like to see in a potential new addition to the Studios, or would you like to see something old come back? Personally, I miss Block Party Bash and would love to see something that interactive come back.

One of the things that separates Disney theme parks from others is their attention to detail and story. For example, have you ever noticed on Pirates of the Caribbean that one pirate who has his leg hanging off of the bridge over your heads? There’s hair on that leg! It’s such a minute detail, but […]

One of the things that separates Disney theme parks from others is their attention to detail and story. For example, have you ever noticed on Pirates of the Caribbean that one pirate who has his leg hanging off of the bridge over your heads? There’s hair on that leg! It’s such a minute detail, but Disney’s philosophy is “if it wasn’t there, people would notice.”

Well, Disney has gained competition in the past few years, and its name is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Nonsense, you say? No one could possibly measure up to Disney’s standards? HA is what I say back at you! Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling made sure the grounds of Hogsmeade were painstakingly accurate with little nuances and hidden gems that the greatest Potter fans would be sure to pick up on. Don’t believe me? Well, let me take you on a virtual tour of Universal’s resident castle: Hogwarts.

THE QUEUE
At the entrance of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, you pass through the gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry under statues of winged boars. You won’t see it during a sunny day, but at night notice how the columns attached to the gate magically light up to reveal the title of the attraction.

Once through the gates and into the castle, you enter the dungeons. Here chaos ensues because you must put all bags of any size and pretty much anything you can’t fit in your pockets into a locker. Lockers are free for the time you wait in the queue, but do yourself a favor: have a non-rider carry all your stuff or pay the extra bucks and place your articles in a locker at another location such as Dragon Challenge to save yourself the hassle and keep your party together.

Once past the insanity, you wind through a dark path within the dungeon. Once your eyes adjust, take note of the many large pieces from the books and movies. The Mirror of Erisid from Year 1 is on your left. Notice the inscription along the top; when read backwards (or “mirrored”) it says, “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” You may ask, “Why can’t I see anything in the Mirror of Erised?” it’s because you’re only a silly muggle, of course! The statue of the One-Eyed Witch on your right contains the secret passage to Honeydukes. Lean over the railing at the statue, and you’ll see Professor Snape’s office just to the left.

The dungeons lead you back outside into the gardens and greenhouse classroom. Here is where you will do the majority of your waiting on a busy day, and there’s not much to look at – just a bunch of plants. Usually right as you come outside there will be a stand selling drinks within the queue to keep you nice and cooled off. The keen-eyed fan might notice at the top of the hill a row of potted mandrakes. You can see an unearthed mandrake (and hear it squeal!) down in Hogsmeade in one of the fake storefronts by the bathrooms.

After you’ve traversed row upon row of switchbacks in the greenhouse, you’re back inside in what is known as “The Oxford Corridor.” This is where any fan of Harry Potter will start geeking out over the scenery and props. On your right, you will pass statues of the architect and the first headmaster of Hogwarts, as well as the house points, which are large hourglasses containing colored jewels that represent each House and their standing in competition towards the House Cup. As would be expected, Gryffindor is in the lead.

Continuing through the Oxford Corridor, you will come across a large golden statue of a griffin that marks the entrance to Albus Dumbledore’s office and a large tapestry of a unicorn that marks the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Strictly speaking, in the layout of the queue, these are in the wrong locations in the castle regarding their respective rooms, but the average guest would not know this.

Moving along, we enter a gallery lined wall to wall with hundreds of pictures and portraits. Most importantly you will see moving portraits of the four founders of Hogwarts, each holding important items pertaining to them from the story: Godric Gryffindor with his sword, Salazar Slytherin with his locket, Helga Hufflepuff with her chalice, and Rowena Ravenclaw with her tiara. Before the attraction was built, these characters had been mentioned in the books but never seen in the films. Therefore the actors were cast specifically for the ride.

Through the portrait gallery, we enter the the headmaster’s office, where we are greeted by none other than Professor Albus Dumbledore, himself. He welcomes us to Hogwarts and warns us there is a dragon loose, but it shouldn’t be a problem. He invites us into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to hear a lecture from Professor Binns on the history of Hogwarts which is sure to be, well… boring. Things to note before we leave are the Penseive, the Sword of Gryffindor, and Fawkes the Phoenix’s cage – all along the back wall opposite Dumbledore. Also another cool effect: look for a red book high on the shelf on the right. At one point, Dumbledore will summon it to magically switch places on the shelf.

Into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, this place is CRAWLING with props from the movies. In fact, you can find at least one artifact from each Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Harry ever had- Quirrell’s traveling trunks, Lockhart’s autobiographies and the large dragon skeleton, Lupin’s spine candles, Moody’s walking stick, Umbridge’s Defense Against the Dark Arts for Beginners books, and Snape’s slide projector. Also notice the chalkboard in front. The lesson for the day is the Patronus charm. Might that come in handy later?

As we’re waiting for our boring lecture to begin, a door magically opens all by itself and we hear three familiar voices. From beneath the invisibility cloak appear Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who invite us to something a little more exciting – a Quidditch match! They’ll need to sneak us out, though. Ron tries to use magic but ends up altering the weather. Hermione corrects him and explains she has enchanted some benches to fly us out to the field and to meet her in the Room of Requirement.

One of the cool thoughts put into every room is that each “loop” has at least two different scenes. This is to help alleviate the problem of getting caught in the same place for longer than expected and seeing the same scene over again. I bring this up now because the Defense Against the Dark Arts room is the easiest place to spot the differences. In one scene, the students are worried about getting caught by Mr. Filch and Ron makes it snow in the classroom, while in the other it’s Professor McGonagall and Ron makes it rain outside.
Off to the Quidditch pitch! We take a shortcut through the Gryffindor common room where the Fat Lady’s portrait stands ajar at the entrance, giving us her two cents about letting every single muggle in without the password. Inside the common room, you’ll find three moving portraits – an etiquette teacher, an aviator, and a famous Quidditch player – all butting heads on the proper way to ride an enchanted bench and what you should and should not do. Farther down the hall, you will find the Sorting Hat giving out safety warnings for all who wish to ride. Fun Fact: The two poems that the Sorting Hat recites here are indeed written by J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series!

I’m also a big theme park nerd, so whenever I go through the castle I like to point out this part of the ride mechanics: everything at Universal is on a points system. So, for example, if the dragon isn’t blowing smoke, that might be like one point. Once you reach ten points, Universal shuts down the ride and starts fixing stuff. Because they are giving out safety instructions, both the common room portraits and the Sorting Hat are an automatic ten points. This is because if the safety instructions are not given, then it’s a hazard to guests. And you probably never listened to those portraits in the first place, did you? I bet now you will!

RIDE EXPERIENCE (Spoilers ahead!)
Once tight and secure aboard our ride vehicle – excuse me, “Enchanted Bench” – we are surrounded by dark mirrors and floating candles that represent the Room of Requirement. At the end of the room, Hermione waits above a large fireplace. We will be traveling by Floo Powder today, so on the count of three we all need to shout our destination: “Observatory”.

POOF! We’re off through the network of chimneys and a land in the astronomy tower where Harry and Ron meet us in their Quidditch robes, amazed at Hermione’s brilliance. They apologize for the crazy nature of the benches, but promise they haven’t lost anybody yet, “Not this week, anyway.” We pass Hagrid, the gamekeeper, who is still searching for that dragon from earlier. Oh, there it is! And, uh oh, she’s hungry! The dragon chases us around the grounds of Hogwarts and traps us in a covered bridge. As we make our way through, the dragon claws and tears apart at the wooden structure before it eventually collapses and we come face to snout with the larger than life creature and her smoky breath.

We narrowly escape, but not into better circumstances. We find ourselves racing through the Forbidden Forest, where the weather has apparently changed and there is now lightning. We are surrounded by many large spiders, led by the biggest of them all, Aragog. Hermione appears out of nowhere and tells us the Forest isn’t safe (as if that weren’t obvious!). She casts a spell that repels the arachnids and warns us of the Whomping Willow tree ahead. The Willow catches us and bats us us away, but luckily we land back on track – the Quidditch Pitch!

The game against Slytherin is already well underway as we watch Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy fight to catch the Snitch. Suddenly, a band of dementors appears! Harry tells us to follow him to safety. We dodge left and right through the stadium, but ultimately the dementors chase us into a dark cavern that turns out to be the Chamber of Secrets. We pass the basilisk skeleton, the large bust of Salazar Slytherin and- oh, no! – the Dark Mark that signifies Voldemort and his Death Eaters! That can’t be good.

More dementors surround us and try to suck out our souls, but then “EXPECTO PATRONUM!” Harry swoops in to save the day. He leads us out of the collapsing cave and back to Hogwarts, where apparently he miraculously caught the snitch in all that commotion because Gryffindor wins the game! As the celebration commences in the Great Hall, Professor Dumbledore invites us to come back anytime and reminds us to tuck our elbows in as we travel back through the Floo Network towards the exit.

Wow, what an amazing attraction, right!? Disney quality, wouldn’t you say? And that’s just one part of the whole Wizarding World of Harry Potter! What’s your favorite detail or reference in the entire land? Leave it in the comments below!

Last week, Scarlett gave you a sneak peek of the new maps Walt Disney World launched on Sunday resort wide. But let’s examine this update more closely and what it has to do with your future touring. The new maps have everything to do with Disney’s upcoming billion dollar Next-Gen project, MyMagic+. This program is […]

Last week, Scarlett gave you a sneak peek of the new maps Walt Disney World launched on Sunday resort wide. But let’s examine this update more closely and what it has to do with your future touring.

The new maps have everything to do with Disney’s upcoming billion dollar Next-Gen project, MyMagic+. This program is designed to create a seamless experience from your pre-planning at home to your tablet or smartphone to the moment you step on property to reliving the memories long after you’ve departed.
As you can see, Disney is really pushing for you to download their free My Disney Experience app for your Apple or Android device with QR codes and ads throughout the map.

The map interface itself is designed to match what you would reference within the application. This is a departure from what we’ve grown accustomed to, most notably because the park geography has been rotated so that the northern end is located at the top of the map.

Old Studios Map

New Studios Map

Previously, the park entrance would usually be presented at the bottom of the map. It will be interesting to see how many guests having just entered the turnstiles immediately turn their park map upside down or at an angle to orient themselves!
The maps feature a bevy of updated icons and descriptions to find destinations for special activities and all your dining and shopping needs. Want to know where you can get a churro in Epcot or an engraved towel in Hollywood Studios? What if your child wants to see the monkeys in Animal Kingdom? The map can help with that!

The maps will even help you AFTER you’ve left your destination! There are clearly labeled markers and instructions that tell you how to get back to your car or anywhere else you might want to go on property.